Private Tea... with Tiland!

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble
Yumfla
Church of the Force Chapterhouse

Tiland bowed to the Jedi Pilgrims as they filtered out of the rooftop garden as they finished their lesson in Force Deflection. War was coming soon. He knew it, not just from the visions he received beneath the great tree of Qi-Ko, but from long experience. He had seen the slow build-up to the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War escalation, and the Yuuzhan Vong's havoc.

There was no mistaking it now and not even the most idealistic thought it a distant possibility. There were two choices- fight or be crushed. The League and the Outer Rim were many things- but they were not cowards. Nor had they ever been. The fighting spirit burned as hot in them as it ever had, but they were also pragmatic. They made the hard choices forced upon them to survive to live another day, to raise their children, to keep alive the hope that things would change. And for that, the Jedi would need to be ready.

But rest was as essential to learning as studying. And he had learned that an old comrade was not as dead as many had believed. So, naturally, he had invited him for tea in the rooftop garden.

He laid out a low table and the implements before carefully setting the pot of water onto a burner turned low. He had a blend of jasmine green tea, which would be best if it did not reach boiling. He kept the back of one hand a few inches away from the water, eyes closed as he monitored the heat radiating off the teapot.

"Good to see you!" Tiland said, rising to give a half-bow when Kahlil appeared. "Please, sit."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"You always seem to know just when someone is arriving."

Kahlil let out a soft chuckle as he took a seat without any sort of delay. He returned the bow with a dip of his head, letting his gaze travel instead to the teapot ever curiously. "Jasmine, huh? What's the occasion?" He got pretty comfortable, lounging back in his seat as again his eyes returned to the older face. He offered the ever friendly smile.

"Unless of course you foresaw me that far ahead."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Do I though?" Tiland asked, one eyebrow quirked up. "Or does it only seem so when you arrive? If a tree falls in a forest after all..." He let the saying trail off as he poured a small amount of warm water into the tea cups, letting the warmth soak into the porcelain. "Every day is an occasion for jasmine. It is quite an excellent tea."

He waited a few moments and then returned the warmed water to the small bowl for that purpose, pouring the tea itself, then handing it across the table. "It's good to see you again, Kahlil."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Always be prepared for company, and it'll seem like you're always expecting others." He chuckled just a little as he took the cup for himself. Took a small sip.

"It's good to see you too, Tiland. I heard you helped Valery out some time ago. Thank you, for that."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Well, that is certainly possible," Tiland admitted after a moment before giving a quick shrug. "Or perhaps I am always drinking tea." That came out with a smile as he leaned back in the folding chair. He waved his hand idly at the next comment, "Oh, indeed. I was simply doing my job. Nothing to thank me for, honestly."

He took a sip of tea and let the flavor suffuse through his mind, before opening his eyes again. "What are you doing now? Do you know yet?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Job or not, you still have my thanks."

He chuckled into the cup as he took another sip before leaning back into his chair all the same.

"I'm helping the New Jedi Order. I've got a couple Padawans now, actually."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Several padawans, you say?" Tiland asked, eyebrows raised with a hint of amusement. "How is that going for you? I hear the padawans out that way can be quite a handful."

He'd even heard that one of them had managed to get themselves elected chancellor. Which, while not entirely unheard of, was quite an accomplishment for a padawan. Usually, it took being a Sith Lord to pull that off.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"So far, so well. I think. They have their.. Problems, but they're both willing to learn. That's all that really matters to me." Not that he was going to talk about the problems themselves. One asked him to keep it a secret, and he would so long as no one got hurt. And he trusted them enough that he knew there wasn't a chance. Mostly. A bridge to cross, eventually.

"What of you? How have you been? What have you been up to these past couple of years?"

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Oh, we all have our problems," Tiland agreed, leaning back on the small seat. "I never met anyone who didn't. But willingness to learn can make all the difference in the galaxy. I'm glad that it's working out for you so far."

At the question, Tiland paused, cup of tea held halfway tilted. That was indeed a question. "I have been doing as well as I can be, I suppose. The Sith have returned to the Outer Rim and they've taken Qi-Ko. That... hurt more than it should have. And they've been pushing inwards towards us. So I have mostly been training those who can be trained."

Attachments were tricky that way. He knew better, of course. Qi-Ko was a planet that had been given up by its shapers in order for something better. He could no more claim the planet was his than he could claim the same of Coruscant. But he had grown to love the planet and its quiet monasteries.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

So the rumors were true, then. The Sith Empire, rebuilt in the Outer Rim. Grim news indeed. Kahlil took another quiet sip of his tea, watching Tiland. So he'd already lost something to them. A shame. Though Kahlil doubted it'd be the last.

"They always grow in the shadows of another conflict. Hopefully we won't be spread so thin they can take advantage any more than they have."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Indeed they do," Tiland replied, thoughtfully, studying the movement of the tea in the glass as it moved slowly in the dappled sunlight. "We are doing our best, calling on old friends, teaching the younger Jedi, and primarily focusing on grassroots movements. I dislike the idea of a people's war, but that may be what we find ourselves in."

A frown etched itself across his face. "I'm getting too old for this, I think, Kahlil."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"The Sith always force a people's war, unfortunately." There was no getting around that. Kahlil nodded slowly, frowning just a little as he watched Tiland. Gave a tired, sad smile in turn.

"I think we all are, unfortunately. But that's what it means to be a Jedi, I suppose."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Yes, so they do," Tiland agreed, feeling the movements between the tea leaves sift through the hot water. "It does always seem to happen." And at the second comment, he gave a wry smile. "You are very kind, Kahlil, but I am old, if not by my species, but any real sense of time. Twelve hundred years is a long time."

He had seen so much history. So much war. So much suffering. "And that is perhaps the challenge- to be a Jedi when all other things seem impossible."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Twelve hundred? I thought you were at most three." By the cheeky grin it was hard to say if he was teasing or complimenting. Either way, Kahlil was trying to just bring some light back into the conversation. Talking about the Sith never had a positive air about it. Even talking about their defeat was more solemn than joyful.

"But, you're right. And that's what makes you one of the better Jedi."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

Tiland laughed, deep and low, his shoulders shaking for a moment, "No more than three. You are too kind, Kahlil. At three hundred, I looked like a human in their mid-twenties. Aging is uneven."

He smiled then and let out a long breath, "I do appreciate your esteem. It is most generous. I will have to be sure to live up to it."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"I know."

Kahlil flashed a trademark grin. Whether he actually knew or not was up in the air, but he still grinned none the less.

"You're also allowed to retire, you know. No one would hold it against you."

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"Ah, no one but me," Tiland said after a moment, wiping the corner of his eye. "I'm not sure my conscience could stand retiring while I am still fit to act."

He shrugged. "I will the path the Force sets before my feet as long as I have strength to stand, although I must confess the path is never as clear as some may think I see it."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Probably for the best, retirement was boring." Not really true. Spending time with Vera to help her grow was the farthest from boring he could get. But the constant desire to help was always there in the back of his mind. The thought he wasn't doing enough. It wasn't a good feeling, not in the slightest.

"What is your path now?"

Tiland Kortun

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Kahlil Noble

"I will have to take your word for it," Tiland replied, pouring a second cup of tea and holding the tea pot out in an unspoken offer. "Although I must confess to not having been bored since I was a small child. As to my path..."

He stopped, considering, his gaze going vague and distant for several long moments. "I don't know. The Force will show me the next step when it is time, I suppose. That is usually what happens."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"The Force is always a guiding light to the next step. But sometimes you have to make your own way without it until you find it again." Kahlil raised a hand, shook his head. One cup of tea was enough for now.

"So what is your path now, Master Tiland? So that I may help where I can."

Tiland Kortun